ODN Network Conference

Baltimore, MD

October 2007

Chuck Appleby, Ph.D. 

Chuck@Applebyandassociates.com

Cindy Phillips, Ph.D. 

Cindy@Leadership4Change.com

Team Coaching: 

A Systems Approach to 

Team Development

2

What’s Your Experience?

LEADERSHIP TEAM 

DEVELOPMENT

• 

What outcomes would you like to see 
more of in your team interventions?

• 

What concerns you about the overall 
effectiveness of “team building” or 
“coaching” initiatives?

3

Defining “

Team Coaching”

“An individual and team 
development process that 
uses an integrated combination 
of interventions to improve 
collaborative leadership skills, 
and team performance.”

Chuck & Cindy

4

Why We’re Here…

As organizations continue to struggle 
to find time to dedicate to team 
development…

Team coaching is emerging as a way 
to accelerate team cohesion and 
effectiveness. 

5

What We’ll Cover…

• 

Some theoretical underpinnings

• 

Working model for team 
coaching:



 

Tools that support the process



 

Insights from 2 case studies of team 
coaching

• 

What’s still missing?

Team Coaching: 

The Theorists

Jon Katzenbach

Alexander Cahet 

David Clutterbuck

Marshall Goldsmith

Patrick Lencioni 

Richard Hackman 

Ruth Wageman
Mike Marquardt

Victoria Marsick

Robert Quinn

Barry Oshry

Others??

7

Insights from the Team 

Coaching Literature

• 

Interventions that focus on task/process 
are more effective than those that focus 
on member/interpersonal relations.

• 

Improvement is best when done in real 
time - working on important issues.

• 

Initiatives are best in combination with 
consulting and facilitation.

• 

Learning and action should be 
integrated.

8

The Systems Approach 

Culture

Systems

Strategy

Role

Intervention 

Focus

Coach

Motivation/ 
Values/ 
Behavior

Consultant/ 
Facilitator

Strategy/

Process/

Problem 
Solving

Educator/ 
Mentor

Competence/ 
Skill Building/ 
Shared 
Experience

Organization

Team/Group

Individual

The Domains

The Levels

The Roles

9

Team Coaching Model

1. 

Discovery Interviews (Starting Point)

2. 

Assessments (Pre- and Post Program)

• 

Individual and/or Team

3. 

Kickoff & Closing Sessions (Senior commitment to 

engagement and action) 

4. 

Sessions

• 

Competence segments – “Gems”

• 

Focus on Individual issues

• 

Focus on Organizational/Team challenge

• 

Group size – 6 to 8

• 

Frequency – 1 to 2 times/month

• 

Duration – 3 to 6 months

5. 

Individual Coaching (Between sessions)

6. 

Exchange with Direct Reports

7. 

Peer Coaching (Between sessions)

10

Systemic Approach to 

Team Coaching

Individual

Team

Organization

Interviews

x

x

x

Kickoff/ Closing

x

x

x

Assessments

x

x

x

Individual Challenge

x

x

Organizational Challenge

x

x

Coaching

x

x

Peer coaching

x

x

Skill Training

x

x

Exchange with Direct 
Reports

x

x

11

Primary Tools

• 

Assessments:  

 360s, Lencioni, Inventory of Work Attitudes and 

Motivation (IWAM)

 Organizational climate survey

• 

Action Learning  

 Focuses on improving questioning and reflection
 Proven to be a quick trust builder and demonstrates 

how we move too quickly to solution

 AL coach key component

• 

Peer Coaching 

 Keep focus between sessions
 Accountability developed with peers
 Facilitates some longer-term relationships
 Room for confidential issues

12

Team Coaching 

Client Range*

• 

Noblis (formerly Mitretek) 

• 

Department of Energy 

• 

Booz Allen Hamilton 

• 

Sparks Personnel 

• 

Washington Group International 

• 

ENSCO 

• 

Maryland Transit Administration

• 

Arlington County Government 

• 

Emerging Leader Institute (DC Children and 
Youth Investment Trust) 

• 

Cosmetic Executive Women

• 

Children’s Hospital

* These are clients where we have used all or part of our model.

13

Case Study #1 - Non-Profit

• 

15 

employees

• 

Intact Team:  President, COO, CFO, 
Functional Directors

• 

Presenting issues: Tension between 
CEO/COO; lacking overall team 
cohesiveness and trust; clear vision

• 

How: Made it part of monthly staff 
meeting; various offsites to support it

• 

Success: Built team trust, surfaced 
process issues, clarified priorities

14

Case Study #2 – 

Management Consulting Co.

• 

Single Department - 

75 

employees

• 

Cross Functional Teams:  Middle to Senior 
Management

• 

Presenting Issues: Low employee morale, 
high turnover, lack of development and 
succession planning

• 

How: Comprehensive Team Coaching 
program used for Leadership Development

• 

Success: Turnover is trending downward, 
momentum to continue (follow-through in 
working groups)

15

Quinn Sustainable Change 

Model

• 

Sustainable Change Requires

Changing 

WHAT 

we do…

Changing 

HOW WE WORK 

TOGETHER…

Changing 

INDIVIDUALLY

Quinn, Robert (1996) , Deep Change, Discovering the Leader Within, San 

Francisco, Jossey-Bass

16

Current Measures of 

Success

• 

Creation of long-term peer coaching 
relationships & increased trust

• 

Sense of shared/common issues

• 

Highlighted key leadership skills

• 

Vehicle for culture change

• 

Time spent on “real/pressing” issues

• 

See immediate behavior changes

• 

Reinforcing system of interventions

17

Why this Approach?

• 

Aligns with 21

st 

Century 

Leadership Model

• 

Facilitates Paradigm Shift in 
Problem Solving (focus on problem 
vs. solution)

• 

Enables Peer Coaching 
Relationships to Develop

• 

Learning occurs in community – 
and through action!

18

What it Takes?

21

st 

Century OD Consultant 

Comfort with Senior level interface
Integrated design skills
Project management skills
Coaching  (1-1, action learning)
Facilitation (group, off-sites)
Consultant (strategy, process 

improvement)

Instructor/Educator (teaching segments)

19

Challenges

Participant

 Opening up – sharing challenges
 Too much peer “sympathy” – won’t push 

back too hard 

Organization/Client

 Keeping focus on Systems vs. Individuals
 Impact Measurement/ROI

OD Consultant

 Requires a multi-discipline OD practioner
 Skill set tested on all levels

20

What’s Still Missing?

1. 

How else could we measure 
progress?

2. 

How do we balance individual, team 
and system intervention needs?

3. 

How do we keep the momentum when 
we leave?

4. 

How/where else could this be used?

Chuck Appleby, Ph.D. 

chuck@applebyandassociates.com

Cindy Phillips, Ph.D. 

Cindy@Leadership4Change.com

Team Coaching: 

A Systems Approach to 

Team Development

Back up Slides

23

When to Use It?

• 

Intact or Cross Functional

• 

Leadership Development is Target

• 

When Challenges are Multi- 
layered (systematic)

• 

Everyone gets “same” experience

• 

Busy client system (between 60- 
70% of time is spent on “real” 
issues)

24

Best Practices

• 

Max group size of 8

• 

Frequency/Length of Sessions 



 

Biweekly



 

3 hours (over lunch)



 

3-6 months duration

• 

Strong Individual Commitment to action and 
accountability



 

Identify specific development actions (contract with 
peer coach or supervisor)



 

Offer coaching to each participant ( 6 sessions)



 

Emphasize the peer coaching component between 
sessions

25

Key Success Factors (1)

• 

Senior Management Commitment

 Participation in the process (checkpoints)
 Ownership of the group challenges

• 

Steering Committee

 Inside champions
 Source of feedback/adjustment

• 

Internal Participant Commitment

 Success correlated to group participation 

and engagement (it’s apparent)

 Face to face participation far more effective

26

Key Success Factors (2)

• 

Safe Environment Key

 Ground rules (“Vegas” Rule)
 Key to sharing concerns and challenges

• 

Group Size and Composition

 Keeping the groups to 8 people 
 Diversity of the groups was very useful

• 

Level

• 

Tenure

• 

Global

• 

Functional

• 

HQ vs. Field

27

Measurement Framework

Level

Type of Data

1

Reaction, satisfaction

2

Learning

3

Application of training

4

Business Impact

5

ROI

6

ROI (+ Intangible benefits)

Source: Adapted from Jack Phillips and Ron Stone, 
How to Measure Training Results: A Practical Guide to Tracking the Six Key Indicators

28

Peer Coaching Foundation

• 

Peer coaching is the wave of the 
future. (Marshall Goldsmith)

• 

Action Learning accelerates the 
creation of trusting relationships 
among peer learning groups

• 

Integrity

• 

Competence

• 

Caring

29

Problem Solving Mind-shift 

• 

We have reached the limits of conventional 
problem solving.

• 

Action learning creates a new problem solving 
mind-shift by: 



 

Focusing first on gaining problem clarity



 

Accelerating the group formation process— 
”storming” is virtually non-existent



 

Empowering all participants—anyone can ask great 
questions.



 

Putting a premium on the presence of non-experts.



 

Integrating continuous improvement into problem 
solving



 

Learning through action and action thru learning